So, for a little while, my kids really hated science which was bizarre and sad since I love science. We were using a notebooking system that came with the curriculum, and they just never liked the activities except the crossword puzzles. Also, I noticed that even though they would answer the questions, they just didn’t retain any of the information. So, I decided to do something different and have them do what I would do which is copy terms and definitions. They still were not learning a lot, and they hated this just as much. Then, in April, I went to the homeschool conference in our state and went to a workshop by Cheryl Wicker. She showed examples of notebooking from her kids and talked about how she did it, and I loved it. I was full of ideas on how to incorporate this in our science. So, we stopped doing terms (since I figured out that they were not in college taking multiple choice tests). And we started writing questions and answers or factoids on the page to present the information in a meaningful way to them. I also encouraged them to draw pictures, often humorous, to illustrate what they had learned about something. Finally, I stopped expecting Hannah to write out all of hers and instead had her write some and dictate the rest to me so that she could focus on science instead of handwriting and spelling (she’s 5, after all, and doing quite well for her age). So, now for science, they have a colorful, fun, illustrated record of what they have learned. And I am finding that they remember a lot more, are much more involved in what they are learning (They are asking more questions), and Hannah even creates her own object lessons (Today she was showing the difference between atmosphered Venus and non-atmosphered Mercury with a scissors cover and film case. It was brilliant.) Bottom line, my kids no longer dislike science, even though they’d both rather do history every day 🙂
Here are a few pictures of some of their notebooking pages. Some from Emma
And some from Hannah
